Stanford Upgrades its Nature

Good thing, because those eucalyptus were really causing a problem.

This is a symptom of deep, powerful problems within Stanford, and in the big picture, within our society as a whole.

The fact that Stanford is replacing nature with nature because one’s been deemed one more ‘natural’ than the other isn’t the problem.  The fact that Stanford is paying $$$$$($?) per tree for this upgrade isn’t the problem, as Stanford has $$$$$$$$$$$ (yes, 11 digits there) lying around.  In fact, the problem is not even that the money spent on each tree could instead give one of the 10,000 people living off the street just around the corner a place to call home.

The problem is that we, as a culture, as a people, are A-OK with this disparity of wealth, this wasteful opulence, this dehumanization of those in need… directly in front of our faces, our doorstops.  Not to mention the other 3 billion who are kept out of place, out of mind.  The problem starts with those in power, those making the decisions, those who choose to push that 21.6 billion dollars toward million dollar landscaping upgrades – but it extends down to you and me, who drive by the problem every day, and turn a blind eye.  This indifference, this willful indirection, ingrained in the most powerful people on the planet is neither acceptable, justifiable, nor in the long term – sustainable.

We can, and we must, do better.